Full Circle
by The Forsakened One
Summary: They didn't care about him. His precious people didn't care.


**A/N I really have no idea where this came from. All I know is that the middle section has been in my head for a long time but I pretty much killed the idea transferring it to word. The beginning didn't sit to well with me but the ending I absolutely hate. I may change it one day and spruce it up a bit but for the moment I don't care. Hell I might even rewrite it…**

**Read, Review. Do what you like**

**EDIT: Fixed some minor errors and changed the ending just a little bit. Virtually the same though. **

**Disclaimer: Nope…**

It was all coming full circle. His past, his present and undoubtedly his future. He had hoped that he would gain there recognition and respect. There love and admiration. He wanted them to recognize him as somebody, not a nobody. There was a time when he thought that they did see him but now he knew that it was a mistake. They were beginning to ignore him. Each and every passing moment they slipped away from him and Naruto knew that he would no longer be able to keep up with his façade without breaking completely.

He knew that it would all end soon though. He knew that something was going to happen; something was going to spark an explosion.

He knew.

**XXXXXXXX**

"Damnit, where is he!?" Sakura growled in annoyance as she waited in the Hokage's office with Ino and Lee for Naruto to show up for there mission briefing. "I swear to god if he doesn't show up soon i'm going to beat him to an inch of his life!!"

"Ano Sakura-san, Naruto-kun will arrive soon so please don't stress yourself." The Kunoichi glared at the green clad shinobi before crossing her arms.

"If he doesn't show up ill give _**him**_ something to stress about!" She sighed before sitting down next to Ino. Lee just leaned against the wall and stared at the wooden doors. Tsunade had been playing with a paperclip for the past half hour waiting for the blonde to show and her patience was wearing thin.

"Alright screw it, we're going to start the mission briefing now."

"Finely!" Sakura said as she threw her hands up. Ino just sat up in her chair and stared straight ahead at the Hokage. Lee on the other hand protested.

"Hokage-sama, I know that Naruto-kun is running late however I believe that we should wait for our comrade to arrive before we get started with the briefing." Tsunade looked at lee and shook her head.

"No dice Lee. I told him to be here on time or else we would start without him. Besides we already gave him half an hour to get here. Seeing as he's not here we will proceed without him."

"But…"

"Lee just shut up and let her start the briefing!" Ino yelled.

"Thank you Ino, Now this mission will…" Her sentence was interrupted when the door to her office creaked open and Naruto slid inside. He closed the door and sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"he he, sorry i'm late everyon…"

"It's about fricken time you got here Naruto!!" Sakura yelled.

"Yea, we were going to start the mission briefing without you!" Ino chorused. Naruto flinched at there words but allowed a sad smile when Lee gave him a reassuring look telling him that he wasn't mad at his tardiness. That small comfort however was dashed to pieces when Tsunade spoke.

"Glad you could join us, now that we've lost some valuable time we can finally get this show on the road." Naruto grimaced at her tone and hung his head. Tsunade started going over the mission details but Naruto wasn't listening. His mind was wandering through his past. Over the abuse. Over all the name calling. Over his loneliness.

"Now that the details are out of the way i'm going to name a team leader. Lee, you will be in command for this mission."

"I request that you name me team leader instead Tsunade." Naruto said. The three Kunoichi in then room glared at him.

"Absolutely not, your tardiness today shows that you are more than unqualified to lead." Naruto was about to open him mouth to speak but Lee beat him to it.

"Tsunade-sama, I believe that it would be wise to name Naruto-kun team leader considering he has actually trained and stayed in the area with Jiraiya-sama."

"I don't care if he's been in the area before Lee; you are going to lead this mission because you can actually react if a situation arises." Naruto's eyes widened a bit and he felt his heart constrict.

"_She just…did she just…"_

"But Tsunade-sama…"

"No means no Lee!! Besides Naruto is only a genin and a Jounin's skill will be required for this mission." Naruto clenched his fists together.

"Just because I am a genin by rank doesn't mean that I don't have the skills required to lead!" Tsunade's eyes hardened as they focused on him.

"What did you just say boy!?"

"I said that I am only a genin by rank, not skill!!" Naruto was becoming increasingly angrier with each passing moment.

"Then pray tell, why you haven't been promoted yet!?"

"THE ONLY REASON I HAVENT BEEN PROMOTED IS BECAUSE YOU WONT DO IT!!

"THAT'S ENOUGH NARUTO!! One more word out of you and I will take you off this mission!!"

"What does it matter to me, I'M JUST A GENIN!!"

"That's it! As of this moment you are removed from this mission!"

"Not like you would have let me do anything otherwise." Tsunade slammed her hands down onto her desk and stood up glaring at Naruto.

"I swear, if you say one more thing I will strip you of your rank and have you sent back to the academy!!"

"THEN DO IT ALREADY! I suppose you'll want my life after that to!"

"That's it! Hand over your forehead protector and then get the hell out of my office!!" Naruto took off his forehead protector but held it in his palm.

"You want this…" His hand clenched around the metal. "Then come and take it from me!"

"ANBU!!" Immediately three Anbu dropped from the ceiling.

"Hai Hokage-sama!" The lead Anbu said.

"I want you to take away Uzumaki Naruto's forehead protector and then I want you to escort him to a holding cell!" The three Anbu chorused there understanding and immediately turned on Naruto. The lead Anbu walked over to him and held out his hand, palm up.

"Your forehead protector Uzumaki." A low growl resonated through Naruto's throat and the Anbu went on the defensive. "Hand it over and come willingly or we will use force!" Naruto growled again and his grip got even tighter on the metal. The Anbu dropped his arm to his side and made a quick motion to his two other comrades. Everyone was totally still when the Anbu flashed forward and swiped at Naruto. Naruto just simply took a step back, grabbed the mans wrist and twisted shattering it instantly. His two teammates sprang into action and made for Naruto, One going to disable his legs, The other aiming for to knock him unconscious. Naruto kicked the Anbu he was holding onto in his thigh shattering the bone and rendering the man helpless for the moment. He grabbed onto the leg sweeping for his own legs and quickly slammed it into the floor. He jumped into the air and smashed his foot into the face of the other Anbu with enough force that the mask cracked under the pressure. The Anbu was knocked unconscious and landed in a crumpled heap in front of the Hokage's desk. Naruto quickly struck the other Anbu as to momentarily distract him while he grabbed the first Anbu by his vest. Adrenaline surged through his veins as he hoisted the man into the air and slammed him into the fazed Anbu sending them both into the wall effectively neutralizing the last threat.

"Sakura, Ino, Lee subdue him now!" Naruto went down into a defensive crouch as he looked at the three shinobi. Sakura had already slipped on her gloves and was cracking her knuckles. Lee was hesitantly getting into an attack position but his facial expression showed he was not willing to go through with it. He looked at the other girl to find that she was gone.

"_Shit!" _ Naruto mentally berated himself for loosing track of her before he felt her coming up from behind. He ducked under her attack and brought the forehead protector into her exposed face. The blow knocked the Kunoichi onto her back and blood slowly seeped from the area the metal had struck her. Naruto turned back in time to have Sakura's chakra enhanced fist collide with his face. Her eyes grew wide when she found that Naruto didn't even budge.

Slowly Naruto's hand came up and grasped her fist. He squeezed hard and Sakura cried out in pain. He kneed her in the gut and then kicked her in the chest causing her to fly back and smash into Tsunade's desk. Now it was just down to Lee.

Lee hadn't moved from his position. He didn't want to fight Naruto and that was painfully obvious. Naruto stood in a relaxed pose and reached for the object hanging around his neck. With a quick tug he ripped the necklace off and tossed it and the forehead protector by his feet.

"I used to believe that I would be recognized if I stayed strong and determined. I see now that I will never be accepted in this place. Not even by those I thought had actually cared about me. It seems like what little recognition I got died with Jiraiya." Naruto glared at Tsunade before turning around and breaking through the doors behind him, taking off down the hallway. Lee's gaze lingered for a moment on the broken doors and then to the necklace and forehead protector that lay before him. He gently scooped the two items up and held them gently in his hands. He looked back at Tsunade who was still fixated on the spot where Naruto was standing moments before.

"Are you happy now…Tsunade-sama…?" Tsunade was broken from her fixation and she eyed Lee and the objects in his hands. Lee repeated himself. "Are you happy now?" He clutched his hands around the two objects and glared at the woman before him.

**XXXXXXXX**

In the days that followed and after the news of what happened in the Hokage's office had spread lime wildfire throughout the lands there were several more defections. Rock Lee, Hyuuga Neji, Nara Shikamaru, Akamichi Chouji, Hyuuga Hinata and Inuzuka Kiba defected to the Sand where Gaara happily allowed them to become Sand shinobi. Gaara also immediately severed the Alliance with Konoha as did Wave, Spring country and several other places that had held an alliance with Konoha.

Konoha was once considered to be the greatest ninja village out of the five but it soon dropped to fifth place with Suna taking its spot as the first.

Three years passed since the day Naruto cut his ties with the village that robbed him for so long and in those three years he became a legend among all shinobi just like his father had been before him. He still did missions however he stuck with the more noble ones earning him the nickname 'The Virtuous One'.

Gaara has repeatedly made offers for Naruto to join the ranks of Suna however each time Naruto declines stating that 'he doesn't want to be weighed down by rules and regulations.'

Konoha was destroying itself from the inside and Naruto knew that when it fell it would damage those around it. He knew that he would one day have to make a move against his former village.

He knew.


End file.
